Prognostic and therapeutic role of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte subtypes in breast cancer

Abstract

Increased levels of total tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are generally associated with good prognosis in several breast cancer subtypes. Subtypes of TILs impact both tumor cells and immune cells in a variety of different ways, leading to either a protumor or antitumor effect. Tumor-infiltrating CD8 + T cells and natural killer (NK) cells perform as effector cells against tumor cells and are associated with better clinical outcome. Immunotherapy approaches that improve the antitumor activity and proliferation of CD8 + T and NK cells include PD-1/PD-L1 blockade, CAR T cell therapy, or ex vivo-stimulated NK cells. A subset of CD8 + T cells, tissue-resident memory T cells, has also recently been associated with good prognosis in breast cancer patients, and has potential to serve as a predictive biomarker and therapeutic target. Tumor-infiltrating B cells also secrete apoptosis-inducing IgG antibodies and can act as antigen-presenting cells to prime CD4 + and CD8 + T cells. On the other hand, regulatory T and regulatory B cells modulate the immune response from CD8 + T cells and NK cells by secreting immunosuppressive cytokines and inhibiting maturation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs). These regulatory cells are typically associated with poor prognosis, therefore rendering suppression of their regulatory function a key immunotherapeutic strategy.

Identification and Validation of m6A-Related lncRNA Signature as Potential Predictive Biomarkers in Breast Cancer

“…TME is a complex ecosystem composed of cancer cells, immune cells, fibroblasts, and vascular cells. It is widely acknowledged that the immune cells which interact with BC could impact patient prognosis and determine clinical outcomes (29). More importantly, previous studies have confirmed that M2 macrophages secrete protumoral cytokines to facilitate tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis, modulation of extracellular matrix, thus leading to unfavorable clinicopathological features and poor prognosis in BC (30).…”

The Current Landscape of NKT Cell Immunotherapy and the Hills Ahead

“…Generation of immune memory is critical for long-lasting anti-tumor immune responses and preventing tumor relapse [90]. Activation by tumor antigens or cross-reacting foreign antigens induces naïve T cells to undergo expansion and differentiation to acquire the appropriate effector functions to target cancer cells.…”

Potential Therapeutic and Prognostic Values of LSM Family Genes in Breast Cancer

“…Therefore, it is necessary to investigate novel prognostic techniques for early-stage detection, which employ new biomarkers in a vital role [68][69][70][71][72][73]. Furthermore, characterizing the immune system, profiling the TME, and constructing BRCA immunotherapies are also known as critical keys in cancer research [74,75].…”